It didn’t take long before we were genuinely struggling with the humanoid monsters. By wave five, we had to deal with ten of them at once, requiring me to deploy multiple crystal domes to delay some while the others were dealt with via Bella and Diane’s attacks. I had little leeway to form new ice spears strong enough to kill them, since I had to focus more on controlling their movements.

  Unfortunately, at this point, we were still only receiving armor, aside from the weapons that we earned on our first arrival. Bella and I had almost completed our armor sets, while Diane was still wearing the same thing that she had worn when we first entered. Either that, or she had already used some mimic embryos to adjust her gear to make it look like her old armor.

  Regardless, the final piece of our armor sets were granted to us in preparation for the sixth wave. I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the next wave.

  The sixth wave, containing twelve monks, was the first time that I was forced to engage the monks in melee combat. Because I couldn’t create the crystal domes fast enough to contain ten of them, one managed to slip through my attacks and reached Bella and I. Although we were still in stealth, it had identified Bella’s location due to her repeated attacks.

  In order to protect Bella, I attacked with one of my claws, trying to swat it away. However, the monk proved to be stronger than I expected. Once it felt my claw on its body, it braced itself with its staff, withstanding the strike. Then, it punched upwards, countering my strike with one of its own that sent me recoiling back with a bloodied claw.

  Thankfully, Bella swapped to her pistols in time to kill this monk, and the rest of the fight was fairly smooth. This time, our rewards were another set of weapons, this time choosing between a bow, rifle, or pistol. Naturally, I chose the bow, as it was the only one of the weapons that I myself used.

  To my surprise, we were not immediately sent to the next wave, though the answer came to me when Diane sent us a message. Let’s stop after wave ten, if we can make it that far. That will let us grind these waves to improve our levels, and stock up on gear that we can sell. For now, this is essentially our exclusive hunting ground, so there is no need to risk losing our rewards due to impatience.

  I read through her message, and was about to respond when another one appeared from her. Also, if I’m right, the skill Drake wants should appear at the tenth wave. Until then, we’ll be getting different types of weapons or crafting materials. Finally, Drake, our blessing’s wearing off. When we get into the next wave, reapply it and then stay in your half-orc form.

  These monks all use melee attacks, so Bella isn’t in much danger as long as we can take care of everything. You’ll be far more useful fighting in melee with me. Oh, and one last thing, neither of you should use the new weapons that we’re getting here, at least until we leave. Given that this is a fire-element realm, they likely have an innate fire element buff. With what Drake said about that aura skill, that means those weapons would make the enemies stronger. Instead, I’ll give Drake my ‘loud’ pistol when we get to the next stage, to enchant with a water bullet. We’ll charge in to finish off whatever is left after Bella fires at them.

  Only after that message had been sent did Diane pick her reward, bringing the three of us to the next stage. As she instructed, I renewed the Dragon King Blessing on both of them, before reverting to my normal form just in time to catch the pistol and a spare magazine. After quickly enchanting it with a water bullet, similar to what Nora had previously used, I passed it to Bella. “Are you sure that she can handle the recoil?” I asked Diane, who gave a small nod.

  “If it’s just one shot, it will be fine. She’s trained as an archer, which requires a lot of upper body strength to draw powerful bows. Also, she’s been practicing with guns for a while, so she’d be a better fit to use it than I would.”

  Bella caught the pistol with a firm look in her eyes, just in time for the gate to our right to open. We were still in the Ghost Zone, so the fourteen monks began to emerge and walk forward slowly. At least this part was predictable. “Bella, aim at the center one. Your initial shot should be big enough to kill a few of them, and then you can leave the rest to us.”

  At Diane’s words, Bella took a firing stance, carefully bracing herself and taking aim at the center of the pack. It was clear that she wasn’t willing to underestimate the recoil of this pistol, having seen how serious Diane considered it. When she pulled the trigger, a loud roar sounded, and a column of water shot out, several meters wide.

  The monks reacted almost instantly, those near the edges scattering while the ones in the center braced themselves to withstand the blow. However, they were ultimately vanquished by the surging waters. Of the fourteen monks, only five were left.

  Diane and I both rushed in to engage, the Ghost Zone being turned off at this point. I approached the three on the left while she went for the two on the right. Gloves of ice formed around my hands, and I leveled a Killing Stare at my targets, causing them to briefly freeze. This gave me just enough time to teleport over to one of them and slam my hand against its forehead, launching an Internal Strike.

  The monk staggered back, before falling to the floor as the other two broke free of the stun effect. A small smile formed on my face, and I conjured my Blood Puppet, ordering it to feast on the monk I had just slain. Then, my Ki General made its first proper debut, sending three clones out to engage with one of the monks while I fought the last one.

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  Diane seemed to spot my move with the Blood Puppet, a look of realization on her face. She similarly had her own familiar feast on the first monk she slew, before focusing fully on the last one. However, Diane and I weren’t trying to quickly end the fight. We needed to give our puppets enough time to properly assimilate their new hosts.

  This was… easier said than done. The monks were incredibly skilled in close range combat. While my general was able to quickly overwhelm its target with numbers, I had a harder time just dodging its various thrusts or sweeping attacks. Moreover, it was now actively prepared for my Killing Stare, rendering it useless when I tried to activate it again.

  Because I was trying to refrain from killing the monk, I inadvertently allowed one of its strikes to land on my shoulder, piercing clean through my body. I jumped back, letting out a hiss of pain as I focused on healing. My general immediately took over without needing a command, sending the three clones in to pin the monk down.

  A few moments later, I received the notification that the Blood Puppet had mastered its new form. However, I didn’t immediately end the fight. Looking over, I saw that Diane had already killed the last of her enemies, and was standing guard over the body that her own puppet was assimilating. Only once she gave the signal did I command the clones to finish the fight.

  By the time we were back in the waiting room, my shoulder had yet to fully recover. Too much flesh and bone had been destroyed, so it was taking quite a while for Internal Recovery-X to repair the injury, even with my constantly spamming it.

  Are you alright, Drake? Bella asked almost immediately when we arrived. We can stop here if you need us to.

  I shook my head, using my good hand to respond while gritting my teeth. I’m fine. Just give me a few minutes. This isn’t an injury that I can’t recover from.

  As I sent that, I looked at the rewards on the wall. Just as Diane had assumed, there were three weapons. This time, it was a scythe, hammer, and a mace. I didn’t immediately choose a reward, not until my wound was finally fixed. Only then did I choose the hammer, putting it in my inventory.

  From the eighth wave on, Diane and I both summoned our Blood Puppets, with my Ki General and Water General also joining the fights. Although the clones summoned by my Water General barely served as cannon fodder, the general itself was able to release powerful attacks against the monks. Together with Bella clearing out a large portion of the enemy in her opening shot, the eighth and ninth waves didn’t pose any further problems.

  After the ninth wave, we returned to our individual rooms, and found three skill books resting on the table. One, naturally, was the Black Flame Aura skill book that I was looking for. The other two were Black Flame Bolt and Black Flame Arrow.

  Naturally, I chose the first skill, as it was the entire reason that we came here, and immediately learned it. As soon as I did, I activated the skill, and felt the flames of the room surging with restorative power, cleansing away my fatigue from the previous fight.

  Both of you, get ready. Diane sent as we were waiting to be transferred. Dungeons like this usually have benchmarks every ten or so levels, where the difficulty ramps up. Given that they’re including ranged skills here, I expect that either the tenth or eleventh floor will include ranged enemies.

  I couldn’t help but grimace at this, typing back to her. Are we still going to stop after the next wave?

  That’s right. You’ve got your skill now. It would be best to stop as soon as we can, and then restart from an earlier floor after resting. You also need to learn how to properly make use of this new skill.

  Seeing her reply, I gave a small sigh, sending my confirmation. I had a few ideas of what to do with the skill, I just wasn’t entirely sure about them.

  When we arrived at the next wave, the arena seemed even larger than before. Its width had more than doubled, with hundreds of gates lining the edges. Diane’s eyes narrowed, and she held her daggers in preparation as she and I both summoned our minions.

  Soon, one of the gates opened, and ten enemies emerged. I was initially surprised by this number, before scowling. Five of the enemies were monks, while the other five wore longer robes, their staves looking more fit for wizards than monks. “We’re definitely stopping after this wave.” Diane muttered under her breath as the monks began to advance, the wizards following at a much slower pace. “Bella, wait for them to get within fifty meters before attacking. However, if they look like they’re about to split up, don’t hesitate to fire. If that does happen, keep your aim towards the wizards at the back.”

  ”Drake, you and I will focus on the wizards, if any survive the first volley,” she continued, her eyes narrowing. “Leave our minions to deal with any surviving monks. Those wizards probably have multiple fire spells that would buff the monks and hurt us. The next time we come through here, we’ll advance to the next level. I have a feeling that the enemies will start coming in increments of ten now, one set through each gate, given the level design.”

  My eyes widened, but I didn’t argue. Diane was far more experienced with different games than I was, so she had the experience to back up her assumptions.

  Sure enough, once the monks had reached a distance of eighty meters, they turned, starting to spread out. Following Diane’s instructions, Bella immediately opened fire. Because of this, two monks managed to evade the blast in time, but only one wizard managed to do so.

  I teleported forward to that wizard, appearing behind it and slicing at its neck with a blade of ice before it could regain its footing. Seeing that I had the wizard under control, Diane joined the minions in fighting the two monks, allowing us to quickly clear the wave.

  When we returned to the waiting room, I noticed that the rewards on the wall seemed familiar. They were the same sword, spear, and axe that we saw when we first arrived. However, the burning glow within the cracks of these weapons seemed more intense now, showing that they were of a higher level.